1. Related Applications
There are no applications related hereto heretofore filed in this or any foreign country.
2. FIELD OF INVENTION
My invention relates generally to a holder for archery arrows, and more particularly to such a holder that has two adjustable vertically spaced arrow support plates defining paired opposed cooperating cells to carry a plurality of arrows therebetween.
3. BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Though archery has been known since man's early history, it has remained a viable activity into the modern day. The field has had continued development through its historicity until in the modern day it is most complex and sophisticated. This is especially true of arrow development which has brought about a multitude of different types of arrows with specialized structures and configurations adapted for particular purposes. The development of holders for such arrows that allow sorting, maintenance and storage of those arrows does not appear to have kept pace with the sophisticated development of the arrows themselves. The instant invention seeks to provide such a holder.
Present day archery arrows vary widely in their form and configuration, especially in head type and size, in shaft length, stiffness and size and in fletching type, configuration and size. By reason of this, a modern archer commonly has many sets of various types of arrows. It is most desirable that arrows of a similar type should be classified and associated with each other. This commonly has not heretofore been particularly accomplished, as most arrow storage has been in bucket-like containers where a plurality of arrows are communally maintained in generally unordered array and without any classification or segregation of either individual arrows or types of arrows. My invention resolves this problem by providing an orderly defined array of storage cells to contain groups of similar arrows in adjacent sets while yet maintaining all such different sets in ordered array.
The fletching of arrows has presented additional problems in arrow storage, as fletching not only is of a variety of types and configurations, but also is relatively delicate by nature. Feather structures of various sorts are still used in fletching arrows, as they have been since times immemorial, and those feather structure remain quite delicate by reason of the nature of the feathers themselves, even though in modern times various coatings and other additives have been developed to aid the stability of feather fletching against physical abuse. In recent times, various polymeric materials, generally of a relatively thin sheet-like nature, have been used for fletching arrows, but these structures, even though more durable than most feather structures, still are quite delicate of nature and easily damaged by physical contact with other objects or by only very minor abuse. Storage devices heretofore known that do not store arrows in some fashion wherein the fletchings of the various arrows are physically separated from contact with each other or with external objects generally have not protected the relatively delicate fletchings. The instant invention does protect such fletchings by maintaining arrows in a vertical orientation and an ordered matrix type array with adjacent arrows spaced from each other sufficiently that one arrow will not damage the fletching of another or allow contact of an arrow's fletching with external structures or with the support itself.
Archery arrows have a head of some sort, and these head structures come in a multitude of configurations and forms ranging from the blunt, oblately spheroidal structure of a stunning arrow through the traditional bullet shaped head to fluted and tined heads having sharp points and radially projecting flukes of various sorts. Many of these head structures have cross-sectional size substantially larger than an arrow shaft, and many are of a relatively delicate nature to require substantial care in their support to keep them from being physically damaged or keep them from physically damaging persons or things with which they might come into contact. Bucket-type holders of the past generally have not addressed this problem at all and have had no means to preserve the integrity of arrow heads. One heretofore known type of supporting and holding device for arrows has provided resiliently deformable groove structures that engage about an arrow shaft in one or more places to hold the arrow. These devices in general have held only a very few arrows and have not been particularly reliable or convenient because of their reliance on the deformable dependency of the material from which they are constituted, which oftentimes changes and does not provide appropriate strength or rigidity to well serve its purpose. My invention in contradistinction resolves this problem by carrying arrows in vertical orientation in a spaced, substantially parallel array with their heads downwardmost and each arrow individually supported in cell-like structures created specifically for that purpose to maintain an ordered spaced relationship of arrows.
The length of arrow shafts used in modern day archery may also vary significantly from shorter type arrows used with crossbows that oftentimes are seven to nine inches in length to longbow arrows that may range to upwards of thirty inches in length. Most arrow holders of the past have disregarded this problem by placing arrows of various lengths in bucket-type holders which allows the arrows to physically damage each other, or in the case of resiliently deformable holding structures by using only one such structure for an arrow or requiring close spacing of adjacent holders, either of which may again not adequately physically protect the arrows being held. My invention resolves this problem by providing support columns, joining the lower base and head holding structure with the upper shaft holding structure, that are of a threaded type and interconnected to support plates by bolts and washers to allow adjustable positioning of an upper holding structure relative to the base structure to appropriately accommodate arrows of varying lengths.
This structure also allows various configurations of the support structure such as by providing plural shaft support plates at different vertical distances above a head support plate and in allowing angulation of the head support plate, shaft support plate, or both.
My invention resides not in any one of these features per se, but rather in the synergistic combination of all of the structures of my invention that give rise to the functions necessarily flowing therefrom, as herein specified and claimed.